When we woke up this morning and Domi was feeling under the weather I knew it was going to be an interesting day. Domi usually can power through anything so when he told me that he thought he had to spend the day in bed I knew he was really feeling icky. So, I had two options, I could snuggle up next to him and watch friends or modern family all day long or I could go out and explore Vienna on my own.
Snuggling up to my sniffly love, while always appealing, felt like I may as well be at home, so I decided to go out and explore. I felt bad leaving my boy at the hotel, but clearly not bad enough to stay there with him…
I wandered out in the cold to go and experience everything Vienna has to offer. I ventured into the subway station to buy a ticket and head towards the city hall for a tour. Everything started off beautifully. As I boarded the train a man played the accordion. I took a seat and listened to the music while looking out the window at the scenery as it flew by. I felt like Audrey Hepburn in Roman holiday(without the sedatives and falling asleep on a park bench…). I stepped off the train at my stop and walked up to the astounding Rathaus. This city has no shortage of remarkable architecture. Everywhere you look it’s a feast for the eyes! I was sad Domi wasn’t there to see it with me, but again, clearly not sad enough, so I forged on ahead. After a while wandering around trying to find the ticket counter I finally located it only to find the tickets were sold out for today’s tour. Oh well, not so bad, I’m still in a beautiful city, so out again I went into the freezing blue yonder to find something else to do.
I navigated my way through a light dusting of snow to the nearest tram and hopped on ready to explore one of the city’s palaces. As I stepped out at my stop the wind picked up and I tugged my jacket as tight as could be around me. I missed Domi’s guiding hand on my back and his experience with the German language as I searched for the ticket counter. I came upon it rather easily only to see a line that stretched further than I was willing to wait so I checked to see if I could buy tickets online. I managed to figure that out, only to find the next available entry time was 3:15…three hours away (I totally bought it thinking it was 2:15 because military time and I don’t get along so well…)…okay so I was going to need to kill time. As I wandered looking for food or at least somewhere to warm myself I got a little sad. I missed doing these things with Domi and figuring them all out on my own I felt like I kept screwing up. I hadn’t planned ahead enough. I was cold, tired and a touch discouraged.
But the more I wandered aimlessly throughout the city, I started to realize that doing just that is part of exploring and learning a city. Screwing up leads up to little cafes where you can hide and figure out your next move. It leads you to new adventures. So, after getting a touch aggravated, I stopped thinking of these “missteps” as mistakes and that I was doing this whole exploring thing wrong. Okay, so, maybe I wouldn’t see as much in one day as someone who had planned better than me, but I saw the city in a new way. I found tiny alleys and interesting people. I learned that I have a strong dislike of being cold and not knowing where the heck I am and I learned that I am totally capable of traveling on my own and taking care of myself.
Today, I found that being in a relationship I have somehow forgotten how self-sufficient I am. Today was my reminder that I am capable, that I can take care of myself and while I certainly prefer to explore with the man of my dreams, a little adventure on my own now and then may not be a terrible idea. You see something different depending on who you’re with and where you are, every experience is valid and beautiful and getting confused and turned around and sometimes a little bit frustrated is part of the travel adventure. If you can lean into it instead of against it there’s more fun to be had. There are things you never thought you’d see and people you never thought you’d speak to and you’ll find little cafes where you can write and practice a little German and people watch. Every experience is beautiful, even sitting at home in your living room–everything, and I mean everything, is about the way you look at it.
Happy Tuesday my friends here’s to traveling or couch potato-ing or doing anything, but with a perspective of it’s all special and beautiful in its very own way. New year new perspective. Xoxo, CAMDW
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